“The merits of your argument get lost in the fact that you ignore all rules,” the judge said.

Rocky Houston and his brother Leon Houston stood trial in state court a total of three times — once for Rocky Houston and twice for Leon Houston — in the May 11, 2006, shootout that killed Bill Jones, a Roane County deputy, and ride-along Mike Brown.

Prosecutors alleged that the pair ambushed the deputy when he showed up at the Houston family farm to serve a warrant. The brothers claimed self-defense, and no jury ever convicted them in either man’s death.

A civil jury later ruled against the brothers in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Brown’s parents. Neither brother put on a defense in that case.

Rocky Houston acted as his own lawyer in 2010 when a Roane County jury found him guilty of reckless endangerment and evading arrest in a 2004 police chase. He served no jail time but earned his only felony conviction. As a result he was barred under state and federal law from owning a gun.

Rocky Houston says the officer who arrested him had no oath of office on file and no legal authority.

Federal prosecutors say footage from a hidden camera shows he continued to carry guns on his property, which led to his arrest in January by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF agents arrested Leon Houston during that raid when he showed up with a gun and admitted to being high on marijuana, according to federal court records. The brothers will be tried separately.

Rocky Houston claims agents planted the camera illegally by not obtaining a search warrant first. The judge earlier ruled that agents didn’t need a warrant because the camera was installed on a public utility pole with a view of the Houston property but not on the property.